


Defender of the Night

by adran06, The_Ashmaker



Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: BAMF Midoriya Izuku, F/M, Gargoyle Crossover, Goliath!Izuku, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bakugou Katsuki, Tall Midoriya Izuku, Vigilante Midoriya Izuku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21602569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adran06/pseuds/adran06, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Ashmaker/pseuds/The_Ashmaker
Summary: Izuku grew up Quirkless. Or at least that's what the other students in his class would have you believe. The city has a vigilante that walks its streets every night, saving people in need. To most, he's a protector. To some, a menace. Some even call him a demon.He is a defender of the night. A Gargoyle.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Secret for now
Comments: 28
Kudos: 110





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the many people who encouraged me to start this, my second story! And especially thanks to the many editors who tore apart my many mistakes to make this the best possible version it could be. Enjoy the story!

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

“This better be worth it, Deku. If you lied to me, I’m gonna make you regret it,” Kacchan grunted angrily. He was sitting down against the wall across from Izuku, who was all but dancing in place in the middle of the room.

“It is! You’ll see! It’s only a minute away!” Izuku could feel the sun as it dipped lower and lower. It wouldn’t be long now.

Izuku’s mom, Midoriya Inko, sat on the couch watching TV, occasionally glancing at the two boys that were waiting for the sun to set. She couldn’t quite hide the small smile on her face, looking forward to what was about to happen.

“And why are you wearing a dress?”

Izuku immediately leapt to his own defense. “It’s not a dress! It’s a lion-cloth!” His mom had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter from being heard, but couldn’t quite stop her shoulders from shaking.

“It’s a ‘loin-cloth’, Izuku.” Mom turned her attention to Kacchan. “It’s because of how his Quirk changes him. You’ll see.”

Kacchan just folded his arms, still looking doubtful. He’d see soon enough. Then Izuku felt it. The sun had finally set.

Even now, days after the first change, he wasn’t used to it. His entire body tingled, and for a moment he couldn’t feel anything. Then, over the course of half a minute, he grew larger. His muscles expanded, giving his skinny body some definition. Tiny black wings grew out of his back, stretching out to a rather small three-foot wingspan. Bony spikes under his skin formed on his elbows, knees, and around his forehead. His ears elongated into a leaf-like shape. A two-foot long tail grew out of the base of his spine. The tips of his fingers sharpened into claws. His feet grew larger, and his entire foot was reshaped, making him walk on talon-like toes. His skin turned a green shade, slightly lighter than his hair. He couldn’t see it, but he knew his eyes were glowing white. As he finally reached his impressive height of three feet, ten inches—a colossal six inches taller than normal—he let out a mighty roar!

Mom finally couldn’t hold in her laughter at the squeaky-sounding roar, which caused Izuku to pout. It would be better when he was older! It wasn’t his fault he was still four!

Kacchan was starring at Izuku in awe. “That’s totally awesome! What can it do? What do you call it?”

Izuku promptly ruined the badass look he had been going for by grinning and sitting down in front of Kacchan. “I don’t know everything for sure, but I’m stronger, faster, tougher, and I will probably be able to fly when I get bigger.”

Kacchan looked disappointed. “You can’t fly?”

Shaking his head, equally disappointed, Izuku quietly muttered, “My wings are too small.”

With a face of determination, Kacchan nodded seriously. “Let’s find out how strong you are!”

The two boys spent most of that weekend doing all sorts of experiments during the night, only falling asleep when Mom finally forced them to stop and sleep so they wouldn’t completely ruin their schedules.

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

[[The following scene was written to the awesome and inspiring music in this video. The voice at the beginning is also Goliath’s voice in this chapter and any time he’s Goliath instead of Izuku, though obviously not while he's younger. https://youtu.be/NyQwHPITom4]]

Izuku carefully shifted his body, letting the warm air currents of the city carry him. The dark night was as clear as day to him. He had to be careful about being seen flying around by a pro hero, since they tended to not like him flying around, but he couldn’t help it. The desire to protect was impossible to ignore.

A scream sounded in the night, but it almost immediately cut off. It was enough to attract Izuku’s attention though, and he flew toward the source. He had to look around for a minute to find the likely cause in an alley.

“Don’t worry, girlie. It’ll feel good after we get started, I’m sure.” The man was standing over a girl who couldn’t be more than fourteen, the same age as Izuku. She wasn’t moving at all, and her shirt had been taken off, leaving her in just a bra and shorts.

Izuku couldn’t see her clearly from where he was, but he saw enough. His eyes lit up as he let the anger flow through him, instinct driving him into a dive at the man. He let out a roar at the last second, causing the man to look up into the sky with eyes filled with fear. Izuku grabbed him under the arms, lifting him into the air and tossing him into an open dumpster that was sitting between the buildings. The man was unconscious by the time he fell inside.

Swinging back around in the air, Izuku carefully landed next to the girl, gently wrapping his wings around his shoulders as a sort of cape. The girl had long orange hair held back in a ponytail. She wasn’t moving at all.

To respect her privacy, Izuku averted his gaze from her nearly topless body and grabbed her shirt, gently covering her. She hadn’t moved, though her eyes were looking at him. “Can you not move?” Her eyes jerked from side to side. That was probably the best she could do.

Izuku grimaced. He couldn’t leave her here like this. “I’m going to pick you up and take you to the hospital, okay?” To his surprise, she seemed to be calming down, if her eyes were any indication. Most people seemed terrified of him.

She moved her eyes up and down, probably the closest thing to a nod she could do right now. Izuku gently knelt down to pick her up, pausing as he shifted her into a sitting position. Getting her shirt on was going to be difficult, but he couldn’t very well leave her in just her bra. He could feel the blush spreading over his face. “I’m going to help you get your shirt back on. I’ll try my best to not tear it.” It was times like this that made him wish he could change back into a human at night.

The girl seemed to hesitate for a moment—what little she could when all she could move was her eyes—before slowly doing the up-down-nod motion again. Taking that as permission, Izuku carefully removed her shirt and did his best to not stare at her red bra as he gently pulled the shirt over her head and breasts, pulling her arms out of the sleeves. It was embarrassing, and she was incredibly cute, but he was determined to be a gentleman after what almost happened to her.

After finally getting the t-shirt back on her, Izuku carefully lifted her into his arms and stood up to his full six-foot-eight height. He reached into the pouch on his waist and removed a blue-tooth headset that he placed in his ear before he walked over to an escape ladder. He began to climb, holding the girl easily in one arm; she weighed almost nothing to him. He noticed her beginning to blush as her head was pressed into his chest while he climbed. He hit the button on the blue-tooth to open the call he had set up for speed dial.

He left an anonymous tip on the would-be rapist to the cops, giving the location, before hanging up as he reached the roof. It was times like this he was glad his voice was so much deeper while in gargoyle form. Finally getting the space he needed, he carefully shifted the girl in his arms and spread his massive wings out to their full twelve-foot wingspan. “I’m going to be gliding, so try not to freak out. You’ll be perfectly safe.”

With a glance at her eyes to make sure she understood, Izuku leapt off the building into the thermals of the city. It didn’t take much time or effort to travel like this. He quickly managed to reach the hospital, approaching one of the open windows on the third floor. He stopped gently on the window sill and carefully folded his wings as he crouched to enter the room.

A voice spoke up from inside, catching his attention. “One of these days, I’m going to get you to use the door.” Izuku turned his attention to the doctor in the room.

“Sorry, Dr. Kenzo, but you know I can’t let just anyone see me.” Izuku walked over to the bed in the room. Technically, this was more of an office, but Hashimoto Kenzo kept the bed hidden behind a curtain, specifically because of Izuku. They had met years ago when Izuku saved him from a villain, carrying him out of danger just before Eraser Head arrived to stop the villain.

Ever since, the doctor had been helping to take care of Izuku and his occasional rescuee when needed. Officially, the hospital had no idea how these people kept getting in without going through the normal procedures. Unofficially, many members of the staff were well aware of the vigilante and his efforts to protect the local people. None of them were going to say anything about it though.

“So, what do we have this time?” The doctor asked as he approached the bed.

“Some guy was standing over her. He had taken off her shirt.” The glowing eyes Izuku gave him made it more than clear how angry Izuku was at the attempt. “I stopped him before he could do more, but she can’t move anything except her eyes. Must be a Quirk.”

Dr. Kenzo grimaced. “I won’t be able to do much for her, but I’ll keep an eye on her until she can move. I’ll see to it that she gets taken care of. You get out of here. You need to rest sooner or later.” The smirk on the man’s face told Izuku he knew as much as Izuku that sleep wasn’t something he ever got enough of, what with his nightly patrols.

As Izuku was at the window, about to jump out, a voice called out from the room. “T-t-thhh-an-k... y-ooou.” The voice was slow and strained, but it was clearly a girl’s voice. Turning back in surprise, Izuku saw that—while she couldn’t move—the girl had turned her head and was smiling at him. “N-n-n-na-me?” She could barely speak, but she clearly wasn’t scared of him. It was actually somewhat of a novel experience to Izuku.

With a gentle smile, he gave her his vigilante name, knowing better than to give his real one. “Goliath.”

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

Izuku carefully wrote down his thoughts on Mt. Lady’s Quirk. He had a few ideas on how he might combat someone with that kind of Quirk, but he knew it would depend very heavily on being Goliath to deal with it.

Izuku’s impressive five-foot-eight muscle-bound body just couldn’t make up for the difference in power between him and such a powerful Quirk. He still pushed himself as hard as he could, working out, pushing his body to its limits and beyond to get as fit as he could. He had learned early on that his gargoyle body multiplied the abilities of his human body. He took martial arts classes three times a week on top of going to the gym every other day, except Saturday. Saturday was his day to just spend time with his mom and Kacchan after school.

Izuku was so focused on making his notes that he only tuned into what the teacher was talking about when his name was mentioned. “Oh yeah, Midoriya, you want to go to U.A. too, right?”

Izuku sighed as he knew what was coming. Most of the class immediately started laughing, making comments about how a “Quirkless kid like him” could never get into U.A.

Kacchan let off an explosion into the air, silencing the laughter. “Hey, you extras! Don’t you dare look down on him. Just because you’re too blind to see how far he’s come, doesn’t mean I’ll let you talk about him however you want. We’re going to dominate U.A. with ease! Even when he can’t use his Quirk, he gives me a challenge. With it, he’s my equal! None of you shitheads can even come that close!”

It was always like this. Izuku knew he could probably beat most of them in a fight outright without his Quirk. It wasn’t worth it though. Kacchan took offense to them insulting him though, and made sure to do his best to stop it. As long as Kacchan was around, nothing would ever happen.

After school ended, Kacchan and Izuku split up. Izuku had to get home to grab his karate uniform before they met up again for the after-school martial arts class they took together. He knew he was helping people as a vigilante already, but he still wanted to get into U.A. That meant he had to pass the entrance exam. He wanted to be an official hero.

Izuku had horrible luck. On one hand, Izuku had an incredible Quirk that (he knew from experience) put him on the same level as Kacchan. On the other hand, that only mattered at night. As long as the sun was in the sky, he was effectively Quirkless, aside from his ability to always know where the sun was and how long it would be until sunset.

Not even with all the skills he had and a body that was about as strong as a human could get would make up for not having a Quirk, not when it really mattered.

“A medium-sized invisibility cloak.” 

Izuku was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice what was happening until it was too late. He spun around, taking a basic defensive stance as soon as he heard the voice. Before he could do anything, a giant mass of sludge leapt at him, wrapping around his body. He tried to grab a hold of it, but his hands slid right through. It began to force its way down his throat. “Don’t worry, I’m just going to take over your body. Calm down.”

Izuku most definitely did not calm down.

“It’ll only hurt for about forty-five seconds. You’ll feel better soon.” Izuku couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t get away. He couldn’t do anything. He was going to die. He knew it.

“Thanks for the help. You’re my hero.” That mocking voice made Izuku wish he could at least make his eyes glow with how angry it made him. At least as a gargoyle, he might have stood a chance. As just a Quirkless boy, there was nothing he could do. “I didn’t think _he_ had come to this city.”

Izuku felt his body growing weak, everything getting darker. He wasn’t going to last much longer. “It’s all right now, young man.” That voice. It couldn’t be! “I am here!” Izuku struggled to focus his eyes to see him, but the voice told him what his eyes could not. All Might was here. “Texas Smash!”

Izuku finally passed out.

\-----

After Notes: Behold, a rough reference for Goliath as he appears in this fic. He has Goliath’s hairstyle, but perhaps a bit shorter. While his face isn’t quite as square, it’s definitely NOT the baby-face Izuku has. It would be closer to a middle-ground between the two, so it's still clearly Izuku, just far more defined.

[](https://ibb.co/JxZcNF4)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku and All Might have a heart to heart. Then, a fateful battle occurs which puts Izuku on the path he has fought so hard for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks go out to my co-author and beta readers. Please leave comments and kudos. Also, if you like my story, please check out my other story, I See You.

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

“ **Hey! Are you okay?** ”

Izuku returned to awareness slowly. He could feel someone slapping his cheek. That voice sounded like All Might. That was impossible, though.

“ **Please wake up, young man!** ”

Carefully opening his eyes, Izuku took a moment to look around and see who was talking to him. He almost passed out again—and would have if not for the sudden surge of adrenaline in his system—when he realized it WAS All Might, and not his imagination.

“ **Thank goodness! I’m glad you’re okay! Sorry ‘bout getting you caught up in my villain fighting.** ”

All Might, the Number One Hero of Japan, had saved Izuku’s life and was talking to him.  _ This is really happening, right? I’m not imagining it? _ He pinched himself to be sure.

All Might continued speaking. “ **I don’t usually make mistakes like this, but I was in high spirits on my day off in a new place.** ” All Might laughed. “ **But you were a big help.** ” He held up a couple of soda bottles filled with the sludge villain. “ **I captured him safely!** ”

Izuku finally snapped out of it, realizing the opportunity before him and quickly pulled his backpack off of his shoulders, in a desperate attempt to grab his notebook. “A-A-All M-ight, sir, ca-a-an I ge—” All Might interrupted Izuku’s frantic search by holding out his notebook, a page already open, showing it had his signature already. “You signed it already! Thank you so much! It’ll be my most treasured possession!” He held the notebook to his chest like the absolute prize that it was.

“ **You’re welcome, young man. Well, I need to get this guy to the police. Take care!** ” All Might began to bend his knees to leave.

“Wait! I have things I have wanted to ask you!” Izuku dived for All Might, barely grabbing a hold of him as he jumped into the air. It was difficult to hold on, and Izuku realized this was much faster than he had ever glided before. He barely heard All Might over the sound of the wind.

“ **Hey hey hey hey! Let go of me! Your fanaticism is a little too much!** ” All Might tried to gently pry Izuku off of his leg where he had latched on.

“If I let go now, I’ll die!”

“ **Oh, right. That’s true.** ” All Might placed a hand on Izuku to make sure he didn’t fall until they landed on top of a building. “ **Good grief...** ” All Might carefully let Izuku step away and stand on his own. “ **If you talk to the people downstairs, I’m sure they’ll let you down. I seriously am outta time, so I really must go.** ”

Izuku knew he wouldn’t get another chance. “Please! Can someone who doesn’t have a Quirk half the time be a hero?” 

All Might paused as he stood at the edge of the building, before turning back to Izuku. “ **Half the time?** ” he asked in confusion. Before Izuku could explain, All Might winced and hunched over as steam began leaking from his body.

“All Might?” Something was wrong. Izuku had never seen anything like this before. All Might had never let off steam in any of the fights he’d seen of the hero.

All Might’s form was completely obscured by the steam. After a few seconds, the wind finally blew it away, revealing a skeletal man with blond hair wearing the same outfit All Might had been in. Izuku was familiar enough with transformations from his own to recognize that, despite the vast difference in form, this was All Might. “Your Quirk is a transformation too?”

All Might opened his mouth to speak, and started coughing up blood instead. Izuku immediately raced over in concern, but All Might held up a hand and after a few seconds, seemed to recover. “I’m fine, young man. No worse than I was before, anyway.”

Taking a deep breath, All Might leaned down and sat on the edge of the building. “Now that you’ve seen me like this, young man, make sure you don’t write about it online, even accidentally. You can’t tell  _ anyone _ .”

All Might lifted his shirt, revealing a massive scar dominating the entire left side of his body. Izuku flinched. That looked incredibly painful. “It’s an injury I got from an enemy’s attack five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach. I’ve become emaciated from repeated surgeries and the aftereffects. I can hide it with my Quirk, but I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day.”

“Five years ago.” Izuku had to think for a moment. “Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?”

All Might let off a soft chuckle. “You’re well-informed. But a punk like that couldn’t defeat me. This fight wasn’t made public to the world. I asked that it be kept secret.” All Might looked down for a moment before locking eyes with Izuku. “I will save people with a smile!” Even now, there was an edge of determination in his voice, even as weak as All Might looked. “The Symbol of Peace cannot be daunted by evil! I smile to show the pressure of heroes, and to trick the fear inside of me.”

Izuku jerked back in surprise. All Might was afraid?

“Pros are always risking their lives. You mentioned that you only have your Quirk half the time? What did you mean?”

Izuku made the decision to tell All Might exactly who he was without hesitation. “Have you heard about the vigilante that goes around at night saving people? The one called Goliath?”

All Might’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Izuku. “I have.”

Taking a deep breath, Izuku continued. “I am Goliath. My Quirk is called Gargoyle. Every night, I transform into a gargoyle. My strength is increased ten fold, and I’m much faster and tougher. It comes with certain instincts, though. I have to go out and help people. Save people. If I don’t, it’s like I’m not even breathing, a suffocating feeling. I can’t really ignore it. I was always determined to be a hero, and my Quirk all but demands I be a hero.

“I don’t have any control over when I transform. Every night, I have to be Goliath, and every day, I have to be Izuku. I can't save people as Izuku, though. I’m powerless during the day, no better than Quirkless. And I still have the instincts. I trained my body as much as I could; I learned martial arts and pushed my body to the absolute limits.” Izuku raised an arm, grabbing it with the other as he flexed the muscles in it. “Can I really be a hero like this? If I see someone in trouble during the day, all I can do is what my human side allows.” Izuku felt ashamed that he was so limited during the day, and it was clear in his voice. He hated that feeling of weakness he had to deal with every day, at least until the sun set.

"While I appreciate the work you do, and this further proves your heroic heart, going to a hero school like U.A. without a Quirk is all but impossible as anything but a General Studies or Support student," All Might said as he finally stood back up. 

“If you really want to do some helping out legally, then maybe you can pursue becoming a policeman, or even an emergency responder; they are often referred to as heroes in their own way, just not as renowned as pro heroes. Now, I must get going. Remember, it’s all right to dream; just don’t lose sight of what’s realistic.” All Might walked over to and through the door to the building, leaving Izuku standing frozen on the roof as his dreams were shattered by his favorite hero.

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

Izuku spent the next half hour wandering mindlessly. There was no point to rushing anywhere. All Might himself said he couldn’t accomplish his dream of being a real hero.

An explosion on the next street over caught Izuku’s attention. Even as upset as he was, the drive to protect immediately welled up inside of him, demanding he go investigate. Slowly walking up to the back of the crowd, he used his incredible height to take in the situation—and felt a chill down his spine.

It was the sludge villain from earlier. The only way it could have escaped from All Might was the moment when he had grabbed the Number One Hero. That meant this was Izuku’s fault. Several heroes were already on the scene, but none of them could deal with this kind of villain. Izuku took a moment to try and come up with a solution, but without being Goliath, there was nothing he could really do, protective instinct or not.

Listening to the crowd watching the fight, he heard someone mention that the villain had a hostage. Someone else was suffering like he had earlier. Turning his attention to the sludge at the far end of the street, he looked closer and noticed a mass of blond hair sticking up from the mass. It wasn’t possible.

As the hostage struggled further, he managed to free enough of his head to open his eyes. That removed all doubt. Izuku didn’t even realize he was moving until he heard the heroes shouting for him to stop.

Like before, there was nothing he could do against this villain. He was completely helpless. It didn’t matter though. Kacchan was in trouble.

As Izuku ran, he spotted a stop sign along his path. He paused only long enough to pick it up from the ground, digging the end into some burning material along his path. As he finally neared, he ripped his backpack off and tossed it at the villain, the materials inside slamming into his head. Immediately the villain shouted in pain, and the grip he had on Kacchan loosened enough that he was able to break free and take a breath.

As Kacchan pulled away, Izuku swiped at the head of the villain with his flaming stop sign, forcing him back further, completely freeing Kacchan. Izuku spun the stop sign like a bo staff, putting the majority of the force into the swing just as the tip was facing the villain, sending the flaming material straight into his gut.

The villain retreated further, giving both teenagers plenty of space to fall back. Izuku took one last shot at the villain by tossing the sign in a way that made the pole stab into the villain’s head. He howled in pain from the burning material—which was quickly being extinguished by his body—and the blunt trauma to his eyes. Kacchan wrapped one arm around Izuku, using the other to fire off an explosion to further force the villain away and to push the both of them to safety.

“ **I really am pathetic.** ” All Might appeared before the villain, his arm drawn back. “ **Detroit SMASH!** ” His punch slammed into the villain with such force that the air pressure whipped into a twister that scattered the sludge and put out many of the fires in an instant. After a few seconds, the updraft caused by his attack actually drew clouds together, making it rain. Whatever was left of the fires after the initial attack was taken care of by the water.

As the crowd started cheering, All Might turned to Izuku. There was a look in All Might’s eyes that he couldn’t quite understand. 

The villain’s sludge body was collected and delivered to the police, and All Might was swarmed by the reporters. The heroes started scolding Izuku for putting myself in danger recklessly. He responded by glaring at them. “I’m basically Quirkless right now, and I still did more than any of you did to rescue Kacchan. Maybe what I did was reckless, but it worked. I saved him. And I’d do it again every time.”

It was at that moment when it clicked in his head. Izuku could do this even without a Quirk if he had to. He was going to be a hero.

\-----Izuku’s P.O.V.-----

Kacchan and Izuku began walking home together after finally getting away from the media circus. With a new resolve, Izuku was ready to try his best to get into U.A., even if it was difficult. They both agreed that there was no way they’d be up for their martial arts class today.

As they got near the point where Izuku and Kacchan would split ways to head home, Kacchan finally spoke up. “I never asked for your help. I could have taken him eventually.” Kacchan sounded oddly calm for him. “Thanks anyway though.” As he blushed and looked away, Izuku understood. It never was easy for him to be nice.

“You’re welcome, Kacchan.”

As they split up, Izuku couldn’t help but feel much better than he had when the day started. A few minutes later, his walk was interrupted again. “ **I am here!** ” All Might called out as he dashed out of an alleyway.

Izuku instinctively dropped into a defensive stance at the sudden appearance before his eyes widened in realization. “All Might? What are you doing here? You were surrounded by reporters until just now.”

“ **Getting away from them was a piece of cake. Why? Because I am All Migh** —” All Might deflated in an instant, coughing up blood.

Izuku almost had a panic attack until he realized All Might wasn’t dying in front of him. It was terribly unnerving to see the Number One Hero so terribly injured.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, All Might continued in a much more subdued voice. “Young man, I come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion.”

Izuku tilted his head in confusion. “Huh?”

“If you hadn’t been there... If you hadn’t told me about your life... I would’ve turned into a guy in a bodysuit who was all talk. Thank you.”

“What are you talking about? It was my fault the villain got free in the first place.” Izuku looked to the ground. “Without my Quirk, the best I could do was some cheap tricks that got Kacchan free.”

“That’s right. You ran into that fight knowing you couldn’t use your Quirk. And it is because of seeing that, a young man fighting as hard as could even without his Quirk, that I was able to act.” All Might locked eyes with Izuku as he looked back up at the hero. “Top heroes have stories about them from their school days. Most of their stories have one thing in common: their bodies moved before they had a chance to think.”

Izuku realized at that instant where All Might was going with this. He couldn’t bring himself to believe it though.

“That was true for you too, wasn’t it?”

Izuku knew he had tears in his eyes. “Yeah.”

All Might nodded, a smile on his face. “You can become a hero.”


End file.
